Editing Buganda (section)

==Economy==

===Agriculture===
Farming was the backbone of Buganda's economy. In contrast with many other [[East Africa]]n economic systems, [[cattle]] played only a minor role. Many Baganda hired laborers from outside Buganda to herd the Baganda's cattle, for those who owned livestock. [[Banana]]s were the most important staple food, providing the economic base for the region's dense population growth. Bananas can grow and produce fruit on the same land for 70 years and it is 2-3 times more productive than sorghum or finger millet and gives 10 times more in yields than yams. The Banana does not require shifting cultivation or bush fallowing to maintain soil fertility and only needed some weeding and mulching, which was usually done by women. A single woman tending to a Banana garden was able to feed 10 men. Women did most of the agricultural work, while men often engaged in commerce and [[politics]] (and in precolonial times, [[war]]fare). Before the introduction of woven cloth, traditional clothing was manufactured from the bark of trees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Water_Series_III_Volume_3/y-mKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en|title=A History of Water: Series III, Volume 3 Water and Food|page=288}}</ref><ref>{{ cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Area_Handbook_for_Uganda/U3AsAAAAYAAJ?hl=en|title=Area Handbook for Uganda, volume 550, issue 74|pages=81–82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Charles W. Hattersley |year=1968 |title=The Baganda at Home |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LQ9AAAAMAAJ |publisher=Cass}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/40afr_uk.htm|title=Barkcloth making in Uganda – intangible heritage  – Culture Sector – UNESCO|website=www.unesco.org|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref>

===Pastoralism===
Unlike the kingdoms of Tooro, Ankole, and Busongora in the grasslands to the west, Buganda's land was not ideal for pastoralism. This was because most of its territory was covered in dense vegetation and many rolling hills, which could not support large concentrations of cattle. The kingdom never developed a cattle culture like its neighbors (Europeans noted that the Baganda were snobbish about the keeping of cattle); The Baganda even regarded pastoral communities as inferior. Despite this, the Ganda still continued to keep small herds of cattle (small by the standards of the western kingdoms like Ankole). Cattle were seen as simple commodities like goats or chickens and not symbols of kingship and power, and there was never any "racial" or linguistic distinction between farmers and pastoralists in Buganda. The King and chiefs were able to maintain large herds of cattle (due to their greater wealth), while ordinary people had smaller herds (some as small as 1 or 2 cattle). Women often took care of cattle.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Deadly_Developments/qLDDC6XFXIEC?hl=en|title=Deadly Developments|page=108}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/nyorostate0000beat/mode/2up|title= The Nyoro State|date= 1971|page=248|isbn= 978-0-19-823171-4|last1= Beattie|first1= John|publisher= Clarendon Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/178221|title=Ecological Variables in the Origin and Evolution of African States: the Buganda Example|page=|jstor=178221 |last1=Kottak |first1=Conrad P. |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |date=1972 |volume=14 |issue=3 |doi=10.1017/S0010417500006721 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[Hima people|Bahima]] (a foreign pastoralist group from western Uganda) entered Buganda to be employed to herd cattle for the Baganda (other Hima were captured as slaves). Since cattle have no great ritual significance in Buganda, the hima's pastoralism did not give them the prestige they had in some of the western kingdoms. The agricultural Baganda referred to the pastoral Bahima as menial slaves and "insanitary rustics" (due to the hima habit of smearing their body with butter)  and looked down on them as being culturally inferior.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=115|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Economic_History_of_Warfare_and_State_Fo/Ck4bDQAAQBAJ?hl=en|title=Economic History of Warfare and State Formation|page=29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Eastern_Lacustrine_Bantu_Ganda_Soga/RYQZDgAAQBAJ?hl=en|title=The Eastern Lacustrine Bantu (Ganda, Soga): East Central Africa Part XI.|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Crops_and_Wealth_in_Uganda/KxPtAAAAMAAJ?hl=en|title=Crops and Wealth in Uganda: A Short Agrarian History|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/East_African_Studies/VyDjAAAAMAAJ?hl=en|title=East African Studies, issues 10-14|page=10}}</ref> The Hima were overall regarded as alien and not to be trusted. There was a plot against Kayira, the Katikiro (Prime minister) of Buganda during the reign of Mutesa. The plot against him was meant to have him removed from his position. His political enemies accused him of being "a Munyoro and a Muhima"; he replied that his mother was hima and it was deemed insufficient reasoning for his removal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=40|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

Buganda's western expansion and its conquest of territory formerly owned by Bunyoro and Ankole gave it control of vast new lands ideal for pastoralism. [[John Roscoe]] explains the successful expansions of the agricultural Kingdom of Buganda against its more pastoralist rival, [[Bunyoro]]:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Twenty_five_Years_in_East_Africa/sdg5AAAAIAAJ?hl=en|title=Twenty-five Years in East Africa|page=251}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/General_History_of_Africa/WAQbp7aLpZkC?hl=en|title=General History of Africa, Volume 5|page=792}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The pastoral Banyoro had no care for agricultural land, but only wanted good pasture land, and gardens were not considered so important by them as they would have been by the Baganda, who combined cattle rearing with agriculture, and who meted out every yard of land to some chief, who was expected to people and cultivate it, and who would be deposed, if he failed in these respects. Hence, large tracts of the country were wrested from the Banyoro by the Baganda with little expenditure of force before the former people really felt the loss of their land. Another reason which caused the king of Bunyoro to overlook the importance of land was the custom of estimating greatness and wealth according to the number of cattle that a man had. So long, therefore, as the herds escaped the punitive expeditions of the Baganda, little heed was paid by the Banyoro to encroachments into their land; thus the Baganda yearly pressed back the Banyoro herdsmen, settled in large numbers upon the newly acquired land, and extended their boundaries.}}

===Crafts===
The royal craftsmen were a protected minority that were gifted land and were exempt from paying taxes or labour duties. The  blacksmiths especially were extremely skilled and their work was highly specialized and sought after. [[Margaret Trowell]] describes further:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih6vCwAAQBAJ|title=An Economic History of Kenya and Uganda, 1800–1970|date=1975 |pages=114–115|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-02442-1 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The leader of the royal craftsmen and often his second in command holds a hereditary position and comes from one particular clan, although the workmen under him may be of any clan. But among the smiths many of the clans seem to have their own closed groups where all the workmen will be of one clan and where only a certain type of work is done. Thus the Nvubu clan have always been makers of the royal shields and the bracelets, anklets and other ornaments for the Kings' wives; while the Ente clan make the weapons and agricultural implements.|}}

Leather working and tanning was an important industry and employed significant numbers of subjects. An account from 1874 describes the tanning of leather by the&nbsp;bakopi (commoners)&nbsp;who made large sheets of leather that were&nbsp;"beautifully tanned and sewed together". A resident missionary in 1879 reported purchasing dyed leather skins cut in the shape of a hat. Cowhides were fashioned into sandals worn by the elite and priests since before the 18th century, with buffalo hides specifically worn by chiefs and the elite.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |pages=59–60|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

As early as the 1860s, professional smiths attached to the court were making ammunition for imported firearms, and by 1892,  [[Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard|Federick Lugard]] observed that the Ganda smiths: "will construct you a new stock to a rifle which you will hardly detect from that made by a London gun-maker. The Fundi Kisule, who learnt his art from Mackay, is an accomplished blacksmith and gunsmith, and will make a new spring or repair any damaged rifle with admirable workmanship. Their folding stools of rod iron, and their beautifully-tumed-out spears, attest their ability as blacksmiths."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=85|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

===Slavery===
It was said that the average Muganda owned one hundred slaves; even youths possessed "ten or twenty...whom they steal or kidnap in war". This was an exaggeration that conveyed some idea of the impression foreigners had of Ganda slavery and its extensive nature.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=116|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>
The vast majority of slaves in Buganda were from foreign ethnic groups such as the Banyoro, Basoga, and Banyankole. The Ganda sold other Ganda only in extremely exceptional circumstances and various Kabakas such as Suna banned the sale of any native Ganda to foreigners. Only cows, goats, and ivory could be sold.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=153|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|As a rule slaves were foreigners, chiefly Banyoro and Basoga; Baganda who were slaves were treated with much consideration in their own country; they were men and women who had been sold by a relative in trouble, children who had been kidnapped, or who had been pawned to raise money in an emergency. The status of slavery was not so dreadful in Uganda as in many other countries. In many cases the worst that could be said against it was that a slave was deprived of his freedom, that neither his wife nor her children were his own, and that his life was at his master’s disposal. On the other hand if a man married his slave girl, and she had children, she became free.|Richard J. Reid|title=Political Power in Pre-colonial Buganda
Economy, Society & Warfare in the Nineteenth Century|source=p 126}}

Ganda slave raiders invaded Bunyoro-Kitara throughout the 19th century and local missionaries would report vast numbers of slaves captured from Buganda's enemy kingdom. The explorer [[John Hanning Speke]] witnessed the Ganda army returning from Bunyoro with "immense numbers of cows, women and children, but not men, for they were killed".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdAhDgAAQBAJ|title=Slavery in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa|date=2007 |page=241|publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-4574-7 }}</ref> Hundreds of slaves from Bunyoro were paraded at Kabaka Mutesa's court as a show of victory over their defeated enemies.<ref name="The Slave Trade of Eastern Africa"/>

The [[Hima people|Hima]] (a pastoralist group) were especially sought out as slaves in raids into the foreign western kingdoms such as Ankole and Busongora. Hima women were considered highly attractive by the Ganda and were popular as concubines. Many Hima women were put in the harems of chiefs and the Kabaka. Many cattle in Buganda were herded by enslaved Bahima herdsmen taken prisoners in war.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYib0AEACAAJ|title=An African People in the Twentieth Century|date=1934 |page=122|publisher=George Routlege & Sons, Ltd. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUV2uQAACAAJ|title=The Baganda: An Account of Their Native Customs and Beliefs|date=2011 |page=415|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-03139-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=41|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

There was also a high demand for slaves from east of the Nile. Historian [[David William Cohen]] says that "Ganda men relished the supposed attributes of women from Busoga, finding their elegantly cicatriced bodies beautiful and their separation from the tense, competitive arenas of Ganda politics a great virtue". In order to appease the Baganda, the basoga would send tribute to Buganda which included slave women. Baganda and Basoga alike participated in the kidnapping and transport of slaves. After the year 1850, no place in Busoga was hallowed sanctuary due to the scourge of kidnappings.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1p9BgAAQBAJ|title=Womunafu's Bunafu: A Study of Authority in a Nineteenth-Century African Community|date=2015 |page=132|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6780-6 }}</ref> While in Buganda, Emin Pasha witnessed hundreds of women brought in from Busoga.Slaves taken in war were usually distributed among the chiefs (a chief named Mende had 700 female slaves). Due to the military campaigns led by Kabaka Suna, there were so many women captives that Suna gifted 2,000 to his mother, 80 to Sebowa (the Katabalwa), and the remainder were taken to the Court and distributed among his wives who ruled over them as they wished.<ref name="The Slave Trade of Eastern Africa"/> It is estimated that Buganda had a sex ratio of 3.5:1 due to the vast numbers of foreign female slaves taken into the kingdom.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdAhDgAAQBAJ|title=Slavery in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa|date= 2007 |page=241|publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-4574-7 }}</ref>

In the 1860s, kingdoms in [[Tanzania]] such as [[Unyanyembe]] and [[Mirambo|Urambo]] regarded slaves they purchased from Buganda as being the best available, especially the Hima women, (who were also brought from Karagwe). The export of slaves increased steadily through the 1860s and 1870s, reaching a peak in the 1880s, when as much as several thousand may have been exported annually.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0irmwEACAAJ|title=Political power in pre-colonial Buganda : economy, society & warfare in the nineteenth century|date=2002 |page=161|publisher=James Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1477-4 }}</ref>

Foreign slaves could be harshly treated, as in the case of a Hima slave who tended the Katikiro's (prime minister) cattle. The [[Hima people|Hima]] decided to leave his master and serve the king. The prime minister seized the [[Hima people|Hima]] (on false pretenses) and had his ears cut off, and his eyes gouged out as a warning to his other slaves not to leave him (not even for the king).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Two_Kings_of_Uganda/gg8_AQAAMAAJ?hl=en|title=Two Kings of Uganda: Or, Life by the Shores of Victoria Nyanza|page=95}}</ref>
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